Infographic: The Plastic Bag Ban Worldwide

This post contains affiliate links. Read more in the Terms of Use & Disclosure link.

While plastic bags are reusable and convenient, less than 5% are recycled and instead end up floating away from landfills and littering streets, beaches, rivers and oceans. The long and short of it is that the amount of plastic pollution in the ocean has increased 100-fold during the past 40 years.

The infographic below looks at plastic bag bans worldwide. A plastic bag ban is a complex issue. Not surprisingly, vested industries who provide plastic bags are not in favor. Other reports speak to unintended consequences of adopting reusable bags due to a plastic bag ban. Like many other circumstances in life, a plastic bag ban is a tradeoff.

NPR did a well-rounded segment about the effectiveness of a plastic bag ban.

Links to products featured on RecycleScene are affiliate links. We try and only feature products that close the recycling loop. Make a purchase of recommended products on our site, and we get a small percentage of affiliate commission to maintain our site. Thanks!